Lincoln's Herndon (Da Capo Paperback) [Paperback]

David Herbert Donald (Author)

Book Description

Series: Da Capo Paperback | Publication Date: March 22, 1989

Occasionally a book that begins as a work of scholarship becomes a great and profoundly moving human document. This life of Lincoln's friend, law partner and biographer is such a book. It has a two-fold focus: on the "Abe Lincoln in Illinois" days—the days of Lincoln's courting, arguing, and politicking; and on Herndon's long and wracking fight to publish his biography in the face of poverty, drive, and disillusionment, it achieves the impetus and grandeur of tragedy. David Donald has given us a magnificent account of how a country lawyer became a national figure and what happened to the friend he left behind when he became president. An impressive study of mythmakers and mythmaking, this biography of William Henry Herndon, a man intimately connected to movements for abolition of slavery, temperance, religious liberalism, currency reform, and women's rights is also a sweeping picture of America just before, during, and after the Civil War.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Herbert Donald, Charles Warren professor of american history at Harvard, has won two Pulitzer Prizes for biography: Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War; and Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 22, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306803534
• ISBN-13: 978-0306803536
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,059,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable reading - and entertaining, too, June 21, 2007

By 

Dennis Brandt (Red Lion, PA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lincoln's Herndon (Da Capo Paperback) (Paperback)

Someone (possibly Douglas Wilson) once said that the world's second-most knowledgeable group of historians had to be a table of Lincoln scholars having dinner together. The most knowledgeable was David Herbert Donald eating alone. Donald also has another talent: He can write, and not all historians can say that. Lincoln's Herndon is nearly sixty years old, but it is as fresh now as it was then, and his 1988 introduction shows that he would have changed little after forty years. The book concentrates not so much on the personal Herndon but on the Herndon who fashioned most of the knowledge we have on the pre-Springfield Lincoln. Or as Donald questions, was that history or mostly myth and half-truth? Donald questions everything Herndon wrote about the Lincoln he did not experience personally, including the alleged romance with Ann Rutledge, the bouts of deep depression, and the eleventh-hour breakup with Mary Todd. Donald also takes a hard look at Herndon's harsh accusations of his senior partner's alleged atheism and debates the point with historical evidence. Donald is also dubious because Herndon was convinced that he could read Lincoln's mind and thus speculated on his partner's motivations and thought processes, including events before they had even met and again in the White House when Herndon had but one brief encounter with his old law partner. Modern-day Lincoln bashers such as Thomas DiLorenzo and Charles Adams should read Lincoln's Herndon and take note of how a real historian does it.

Whether you are a scholar or not, you must read this classic work to gain a more realistic view of Abraham Lincoln by learning more about the man largely responsible for much of his legacy, true and mythical. It's also a hoot to read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid and reliable, August 23, 2007

By 

Richard Lawrence Miller, Lincoln author (Kansas City MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lincoln's Herndon (Da Capo Paperback) (Paperback)

A prime source of information about Lincoln's last law partner, including Herndon's political activities. Not a lively read, but an informative one. The author, who wrote this book in the 1940s, became one of the most admired Lincoln scholars.